Jarno Trulli

Infobox F1 driver
Name = Jarno Trulli


Caption =
Nationality = flagicon|ITA Italian
Car number = 11
Team = Toyota
Team for 2007 = Panasonic Toyota
Races = 199 (196 starts)
Championships = 0
Wins = 1
Podiums = 8
Points = 209
Poles = 3
Fastest laps = 0
First race = 1997 Australian Grand Prix
First win= 2004 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win = 2004 Monaco Grand Prix
Last race = 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
Last season = 2007
Last position = 13th (8 pts)

Jarno Trulli (born July 131974, age age|1974|07|13) is an Italian Formula One auto racing driver currently driving for the Toyota team.

Career

Early days

Trulli was born in Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy. His parents were motorsport fans and named their son after Jarno Saarinen, the Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion who had been killed at Monza in 1973. This Finnish forename caused a certain amount of confusion when he first entered Formula One, with many not initially realising that he was Italian. His father's enthusiasm also meant that, like many successful racers, he was involved in karting from an early age.

Formula 3 and early Formula One career

After winning the Italian and then European kart championships he won the German Formula Three championship in 1996, and in 1997 made his debut in F1 with Minardi. After 7 races he replaced the injured Olivier Panis at Prost and impressed immediately, finishing fourth in Germany and even leading in Austria, looking set to finish second until his engine blew. He stayed at the Prost team for the next two seasons and eventually scored his first podium in wet conditions at the 1999 European Grand Prix. However, this was a rare highlight in a race few of the main front-runners finished, and the poor performance of the Prost team convinced him that a switch to Jordan would bring improved results.

2000-2001: Jordan

In 2000 he moved to the Irish squad, but the team was no longer the force it had been in the late 1990s. In his two years with Jordan, Trulli failed to score a podium, but did impress with a series of brilliant qualifying displays. During this period suggestions were made that Trulli was more of a qualifying specialist than an out-and-out fast race driver, a charge he frequently denied. Under long-term contract to personal manager (and Renault manager) Flavio Briatore, Trulli secured a contract with the Anglo-French squad for 2002.

2002-2004: Renault

Alongside Jenson Button, he often outqualified his British teammate, but was generally shaded in races. Regardless of Button's improved pace that season, it was Trulli who stayed at Renault for 2003 to partner promoted test-driver Fernando Alonso. The 2003 Renault was a strong car and in Alonso's hands won in Hungary. Trulli struggled to attain similar results, but did achieve a podium in Germany, his first since leaving Prost.

Mindful of how much Alonso had outperformed him in F1|2003, Trulli improved markedly the next year. For the first half of the season he was the better of the two Renault drivers, racking up regular points and podiums. At Monaco he finally took his first victory after a brilliant display from pole position. Having performed so well, the Italian was eager to stick with the team for 2005, but his relationship with team-boss Briatore soured. A last corner error which allowed Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello onto the podium in France enraged the team, and from that point his days with the French manufacturer were numbered. For the second half of F1|2004, Trulli failed to gain any points and was consistently off the pace during races. He later accused the team of favouring Alonso, but the reasons why his 2004 season deteriorated have never been properly identified. He was sacked three races before the end of the season and replaced by F1|1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. Trulli had already agreed to drive for Toyota in 2005, and his early exit from Renault allowed him to take up his new seat for the last two races of the 2004 season, replacing Ricardo Zonta.

2004-present: Toyota

His 2005 season was good. Early season podiums demonstrated that he was back on the pace and at Indianapolis he took Toyota's first F1 pole (albeit with very low fuel). For the vast majority of the year he outclassed highly paid team-mate Ralf Schumacher, but a late season dip in form saw him slip to seventh in the championship, two points behind the German.

Trulli is undoubtedly very fast. Over one lap, few drivers can match his accuracy, speed, and precision. Yet the doubts over his racecraft refuse to go away. In the past two years he has improved noticeably, but poor showings can still occur. His apparent lack of pace in some races in 2005 was, on several occasions, observed to lead to a significant portion of the field bunching up behind the Toyota. This phenomenon was dubbed 'the Trulli train' by journalists and commentators. Whether this effect was due to an actual lack of race pace on Trulli's part, a disparity between performance over one-lap and race distance from the Toyota TF105, or simply Trulli's sensational ability to extract more pace from the car in qualifying than, on paper, it seemed likely to give, was the subject of some debate, though the quality of Trulli's performances and pure single-lap pace have led the latter to become the prevailing view. He has suffered some very poor luck throughout his career, but there are times when he has simply failed to capitalise on his chances. Regardless, he still remains one of the sport's leading drivers, although question marks remain. ITV's expert Martin Brundle has in the past expressed his own doubts about Trulli's race pace.

In F1|2006, Trulli suffered a very poor start to the season, although this was generally due to excessive amounts of bad luck, for example, he was taken out by David Coulthard on the first lap of the 2006 Australian Grand Prix. He seemed to be outpaced by team-mate Ralf Schumacher more often than not, but his reputation was restored when he raced to 6th from 4th on the grid at the Canadian Grand Prix. Following this was a 4th place in the United States Grand Prix. From then on, he would only score 3 more times, with a couple on 7th place finishes in the German Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix and also a 6th place in the Japanese Grand Prix. There was even bad luck here, as his car became troublesome to drive mid-race, and Ralf Schumacher was delayed in the process. Trulli was racing very well in the season finale at Interlagos, but bad luck robbed him again, as his car suffered suspension failure in only the first 10 laps, a fate which befell his team-mate at the same time. He finished 12th overall.

Trulli scored his first points of 2007 in Malaysia, finishing in 7th place after qualifying 8th. A couple more points followed in Bahrain, but he stalled on the grid at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix and dropped out during the early laps due to mechanical failure. Monaco brought no better fortune for Trulli, as he finished down in 15th place, just ahead of team-mate Schumacher, after qualifying his season-worst 14th. Points were collected by Trulli at the Indianapolis for 6th place. After a series of non-scoring runs, Trulli said that the result was 'incredible'. [" [http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39685 "Trulli hails 'incredible' sixth place"] " ITV Sport Retrieved 18 June 2007 ] He also qualified well for the French Grand Prix but crashed with the Renault of Heikki Kovalainen on the opening lap, and duly retired because of the damage. Trulli accepted the blame for the incident. The second half of the season was disappointing with Trulli's only point coming in the final race of the season at Brazil.

Post season there had been reports that Trulli's contract was not safe, and that he may have be replaced in the Toyota team for 2008 by Heikki Kovalainen. [" [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64352 "Kovalainen not surprised by Renault exit"] " Autosport Retrieved 12 December 2007 ] These proved unfounded as Kovalainen signed for McLaren.

For 2008, Trulli was hoping Toyota would make a big step forward. Timo Glock was confirmed as his team-mate for the season. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7099038.stm "Timo Glock confirmed as Toyota Driver for 2008"] " BBC Sport Retrieved 19 November 2007 ] Trulli started the season quite well, with several points scoring finishes, the height of which was a fourth place finish in Malaysia. Trulli's qualifying performances were also very good throughout the first few rounds of the Championship. His form then slumped a little, with disappointing performances in Turkey and Monaco, as he finished in non-points scoring positions.

However, he bounced back from this with a 6th place finish in Montreal. He then topped that in France by finishing on the podium in 3rd place, holding off the challenge of Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica in the closing laps. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Trulli stands 8th in the Drivers' Championship, just behind BMW, Ferrari and McLaren drivers.

Racing record

Career summary

* Season in progress

Complete Formula One results

() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in "italics" indicate fastest lap)* Season in progress

Pre-F1 career

*1997: Jarno Berens beats Jarno Trulli for the Dutch karting title.
*1996: 1st German Formula 3 (KMS Dallara-Opel)
*1995: 4th in German Formula 3 (KMS Dallara-Opel), 1st in Italian Go-kart class 100 FA, 1st in World Go-kart class 125FC, Senna Memorial World Cup winner
*1994: Senna Memorial World Cup winner, 1st in North American class 100SA, 1st in European class 100SA
*1993: 2nd in World Go-kart Champion class 100 SA, 1st in Grand prix of Japan Class 100 FSA
*1992: 2nd in World Go-kart class 125 FC
*1991: 1st in World Go-kart class 100 FK
*1990: 1st in Grand Prix of Hong Kong Class 100 FA
*1988-1990: Three times 1st in Italian National 100 Class
*1983-1995: Karting

Personal life

Trulli is married to Barbara and they have two sons, Enzo (b. 2005), named after Trulli's father, and Marco (b. 2006). He is the co-owner of a vineyard in Italy and produces his own wine. He also has his own range of Karts named 'Trulli Kart'; Trulli himself was a World Champion at Karting level. [http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/06/01/revealed.trulli.biog/]

References

External links

* [http://www.jarnotrulli.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.toyota-f1.com/public/en/team/driver/trulli_profile.html Profile at Toyota F1 official website]
* [http://www.f1db.com/f1/page/Jarno_Trulli Jarno Trulli Profile and Statistics]
* [http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/revealed/trulli/ Jarno Trulli Revealed on CNN.com]
* [http://www.jarnotrulli.org.es Jarno Trulli Fan Club Spain]